


Milestones

by Anonymous



Category: Saint Seiya, Saint Seiya Episode.G: Assassin
Genre: Canon Era, Coming of Age, Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 01:29:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8777689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: When they were fourteen, they didn't think they would live long enough to do any of this. But they did.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [taichara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/gifts).



> Written for Taichara for Yuletide 2016.  
> Canon compliant until chapter 60-ish.  
> I hope you don't mind the inclusion of the other Bronzes; in my mind they come as a set! :)

**I. 20: Legal Drinking Age**

Shun tries to act surprised when his friends corner him after his last class and tell him they’re taking him to a bar whether he likes it or not - 'to celebrate your birthday in style'!  
  
Shun’s friends are perfectly nice and perfectly average medical students, but Shun is a gold saint, with everything that entails. Still, they mean well, and it’s nice to pretend sometimes, so he lets them think he didn’t notice their whispered conferences behind his back, and he lets them think there’s anything they could do to stop him if he truly wanted to leave. It would be a grim world indeed if heroes never got to enjoy themselves like normal people.  
  
At the bar they booked, the hostess squints at Shun when she serves him as if she suspects him of being some high-schooler who only pretends he’s twenty, but she pours without comment. Shun nods his appreciation.  
  
"Kampai!", they toast him, and then laugh when he makes a face after the first sip. "Aww, your first taste of _sake_?" Shindo laughs. "Drink more, you’ll get used to it!"  
  
Shun smiles to himself. His first taste of alcohol had been at the feast - there’s really no other word for it - thrown to celebrate their heroes’ return from the realm of the dead after defeating Hades. Shun had been dead on his feet and in no state to appreciate the red wine from Sanctuary’s very own cellars. Over the years he’s coughed his throat raw on Hyoga’s vodka and accepted a contraband beer can or two from Seiya and toasted Shiryu with sweet _sake_ at his wedding, but he’s never drank enough to get used to the taste, or the burn.  
  
Maybe now he will. He’s twenty. He’s twenty and the world wasn’t destroyed when he was thirteen, so now he’s free to drink and smoke and attend school and do all the things he thought he’d never live to do.  
  
He’s still a saint. He still has duties. But now he has a life. If that’s not worth celebrating, what is?  
  
The hostess brings a cake and his friends insist on singing the happy birthday song, then proceed to get as drunk as they can.  
  
Shun lets them, but barely touches his own drink. He checks his phone: well-wishes from Saori, well-wishes from Jun. Nothing from Ikki, but that’s not surprising. Even though Shun’s brother has a phone now, he’s as antisocial as ever; he likes the empty, desolate corners of the world where there’s little to bother him, and cell reception is next to nonexistent. Shun is used to hearing nothing for months, then suddenly finding a gruff 'I’m in Patagonia' on his cell accompanied by a huge dump of photos of all the animals, places and people Ikki found interesting - or maybe thought Shun would find interesting, who knows - uploaded in bulk at the first village with an internet café.  
  
When the party has gotten to the point where Yamada is singing his favorite idol’s latest hit, Shun quietly slips away and goes home.

* * *

He pauses before stepping out onto the landing and extends all his senses. He thought he felt… Then he relaxes when Hyoga steps out of the shadows. "You reek of sake. Ah, the sad state of our country’s youth, partying all night instead of studying," his fellow saint teases him. Shun merely gives him a look before inviting him in.  
  
"Shiryu’s sorry he couldn’t make it; he sends this _shochu_. He says you should try mixing it with some oolong tea."  
  
"All right," Shun says as he stashes the bottle away. "Tell him I’ll find a way to appreciate it."  
  
"You should! He got you the good stuff, you know."  
  
"And I’m sure it’s great. I’m just not very used to alcohol. Yet."  
  
"Excuses, excuses." Hyoga smirks, and hands Shun a can. "Here, try this."  
  
The can is, of course, as cold as though it just came out of the fridge. Shun squints at the label. " _Umeshu_?"  
  
"It’s the perfect thing for a lightweight like you. You can work your way up to the stronger stuff once you've had some practice."  
  
And Hyoga fancies himself an expert on all things alcoholic since he got his new job, right. Speaking of… "Shouldn’t you be at work?"  
  
"Shouldn’t you be in bed, student boy?" But the point is taken, and Hyoga soon excuses himself with a last handshake and a 'Happy birthday'.  
  
Though he has classes the next day, Shun stays up for a while. He sits by the window, sips his plum wine and watches the moon. He’s twenty. He’s alive.

* * *

**II. 18: Legal Driving Age**

Seiya spends his fourteenth birthday in a coma.  
  
The world’s greatest medical doctors have looked at him and couldn’t explain why he won’t wake up. The world’s greatest healers have looked at him and pronounced him cursed. They all say the same thing: Seiya will never wake up. "You should pull the plug, Miss."  
  
His friends look at each other helplessly. It isn’t right, that they all defied Hades but only Seiya has paid the price.  
  
Seika cries.  
  
Saori sits at his bedside and hold his hand.

* * *

Seiya spends his fifteenth birthday in a vegetative state.  
  
He is awake, in a way. His eyes are open. Sometimes he blinks. When people put a glass to his lips, he drinks. When people put food in his mouth, he swallows. But he doesn’t speak. Doesn’t move. He lies in bed, he sits in his wheelchair. That is all.  
  
Again, the world’s greatest scientific and mystic minds are called to his bedside. The doctors can’t explain the change in him, but remain pessimistic about his chances of recovery. The healers have nothing new to add: Seiya killed a god, therefore he is cursed. That anything changed at all is a miracle, but in all likelihood Seiya will never get better.  
  
Saori thanks the experts, and continues to provide Seiya with the best care money can buy. Everyone who knows Seiya has perked up at the word. _Miracle_. Miracles are Seiya’s specialty.  
  
They watch Seiya sit in his chair, and wait with bated breath.

* * *

Seiya has just turned sixteen when it happens.  
  
One minute, Saori is in danger. The next, Seiya is there, resplendent in his Pegasus cloth, and his wheelchair lies upturned in the blasted remnants of the estate’s gardens. He is grinning at her like nothing has happened, and maybe for him it really is nothing. His grin grows wider when his friends, his brothers-in-arms show up barely surprised to see him, and doesn’t falter when he learns they are up against the might of yet another god. In his mind, there can only be one outcome.  
  
He is right, of course, and they return to Saori battered but triumphant. Seiya is indignant when he hears the lease to his old place has been terminated, and teases Saori for watching him in his sleep.  
  
"Oh, and Seika! I have to talk to her, there’s so much I want to ask her!"  
  
Saori agrees and promises she’ll ask Seika to come, but tomorrow. "You need to rest. You’ve done enough for today."  
  
But the next day, Seiya is silent and unresponsive again.

* * *

The healers throw their hands up. They can’t explain it, they can’t replicate it.  
  
Shun starts muttering about medical school.  
  
Seiya sleeps on.

* * *

It happens again, and then it keeps happening.  
  
Seiya will spring up when his goddess or his sister or his friends need him. He will be alert, in top form, and laugh and joke with them. When whatever danger woke him is over, he relapses. Sometimes right away, but sometimes he lingers for days, even weeks, long enough to make the disappointment even more crushing. Every time, he is subjected to a battery of tests. The doctors who remember him from his coma are astounded to see him upright and walking, but find nothing helpful. Seiya tells the healers that after the initial burst it’s as if his cosmo is almost completely gone, and they agree that that is very worrying indeed, but can add nothing new. It’s just how the curse is.  
  
Seiya puts on a brave face. Every time, he swears he’ll hang on this time. He makes plans about going to this or that movie, or signing up for a cooking class, or inviting everyone to a classy restaurant for his next birthday. He swears so earnestly that they can’t help it: they hope.  
  
But every time, there comes an evening when Seiya goes to bed and doesn’t wake up the next day.

* * *

When Seiya is eighteen, it happens again, and it’s the lingering kind.  
  
It goes on for months. It has never gone on for months before, and they start thinking that maybe this is it, maybe this time it will last.  
  
Seiya takes full advantage of it. He spends a lot of time with his sister, finally. He visits Miho and marvels at how the children have grown when he wasn’t looking. He starts taking driving lessons. He mows Saori’s lawn. He discovers Facebook and Twitter and messages his friends at every hour of the day.  
  
When this blessed period has gone on so long they have almost forgotten to expect the relapse, Seiya sends his friends a message: 'F yeah class 1 license!!!! Let’s drive down 2 Izu 4 the weekend and have fun at the beach!!'  
  
So Shiryu, Hyoga and Shun show up at the Kido mansion and get into the sleekest, fastest car Saori owns while Seiya alternates between singing the praises of the engine and complaining about how hard the exam was, and what a hardass the examiner was and how he never had to study _so_ much for anything in his life, guys. Shun, who has successfully passed his _daiken_ and is studying for his university entrance exams, just smiles and nods. Hyoga tactfully doesn’t mention all the times he’s taken the Foundation’s cars for joyrides when he was fourteen and completely lacking any kind of license.  
  
They joke and sing along to the radio and keep half an eye on the traffic, ready to leap into action as saints do just in case, but nothing notable happens. Saori’s car gets to Izu without a single scratch.  
  
They end up on a beautiful beach south of Shimoda because Seiya insists he read it’s the best rated and his friends should have the best. They change into swimming trunks and splash into the water and Hyoga scares them with how long he can hold his breath underwater. They eat shaved ice and take turns whacking a watermelon while blindfolded and try not to strike it _too_ hard. They play volleyball with a group of kids their age and let the other side win. Shun snaps dozens of pictures with his phone and sends them to Ikki with a wistful 'Wish you were here'.  
  
They have fun. They almost feel like children play-acting at having a normal life, except this _is_ their life. No one is trying to kill them or take over the Earth. They are still saints with a sacred duty, but everyone from Athena down to the lowest guard at Sanctuary has begged them to let _them_ shoulder the burden for once. Let someone else look for and train candidates, let someone else keep vigil over the myriad lesser threats. The 'Five', as they are called, have done more than enough to earn a couple of years’ sabbatical at least.  
  
So they do their best to enjoy the day at the beach because that’s the sort of thing normal people do, and merely groan and give chase when Seiya runs off with Shiryu’s pants.  
  
They go back to Tokyo sunburnt and exhausted and happy and promise to go to together again sometime.  
  
The next day, Seiya has relapsed.  
  
The day after that, he’s vanished without a trace.

* * *

**III. 21: Marriage**

Shiryu stands in the shrine in his best rented finery. He never thought this day would come.  
  
Shunrei stands by his side, resplendent in her borrowed _uchikake_. Around them, their dearest friends try to stay solemn as the priest seeks the gods’ blessing and protection for the happy couple. There’s no way the priest knows this but they need all the protection they can get, considering all the deities the groom has defied. Shiryu doesn’t need to look over his shoulder to know that his friends are suppressing the urge to give teasing elbow nudges to the one goddess walking among them today.  
  
Shiryu has wanted this for a very long time. He loves Shunrei with all his heart. Hers was the first friendly face he saw when he arrived at Rozan as an orphan alone in a strange land. For years, she was his rock, his silent helper, his sympathetic ear. For a while, she was even his eyes. He can’t imagine not loving her.  
  
Yet at fourteen, happily ever after had seemed such an impossible dream. He was a saint of Athena and his life existed only to be sacrificed in her service. He had been convinced then that he had nothing to offer to Shunrei except sleepless nights and inevitable heartbreak.  
  
Today? Today Shiryu is still a saint of Athena, and the future is still uncertain, but now he is more willing to gamble. Happiness, he thinks, is worth the risk of future heartbreak.  
  
And they’ve both had more than enough of _that_ already. Motherless, fatherless orphans the both of them, the man who took them in and loved them as his own children dead and gone for years, the witnesses - their closest friends - can be counted on one hand. And Shiryu can’t help it; he keeps looking out of the corner of his eyes, hoping that _one more_ will show up…  
  
Nobody crashes the ceremony. Shiryu tries to hide his disappointment. Seiya will come. When he is really needed, he will come back to them. In the meantime, there’s the here and now.  
  
Shiryu sips from the three cups and vows to respect and love Shunrei forever, and to work for the betterment of humanity always. It isn’t a hard vow to make: hasn’t he been doing this all his adult life? He’s only making it official.

* * *

The reception is small but raucous. The inner circle has been joined by Shunrei’s friends from nursing school, the people Shiryu works construction with, and some acquaintances from Graude Foundation and Sanctuary.  
  
His friends’ speeches are carefully sanitized for the sake of the few civilian guests who aren’t in the know. Hyoga’s manages to give them the impression Shiryu is a member of a sporting club that used to go on extreme wilderness survival trips. Shun’s recounts some childhood stories that almost make the Foundation sound like a regular boarding school.  
  
His 'normal' friends’ are more spontaneous but less personal. It’s not their fault - Shiryu has only let them see a tiny part of himself. Even so, they speak of him with genuine affection. Shunrei’s friends praise her dedication, her friendliness, her willingness to help them. Miho shares an edited version of their first meeting, and select anecdotes from their time working together at the orphanage when Shunrei came to live in Japan for good.  
  
They play bingo and eat cake and Kiki amuses himself by levitating the punch bowl over Tatsumi’s head. This is the life he has always aspired for, and despite all his losses, right now Shiryu is content.  
  
When he steps outside for a moment, he is surprised by how bright the stars look in defiance of Tokyo’s light pollution. His eyes go automatically to the familiar shapes. There’s the dragon ascendant, there’s the flying swan, there’s Andromeda reclining, over there are the hooves of Pegasus barely emerging over the horizon. The phoenix, ever contrary, will not show himself at this time of the year. Over to the south…  
  
A door opens and closes behind him and Shiryu isn’t surprised at all to feel Shunrei’s hand on his arm, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. "I knew I’d find you here. The night is so beautiful." Her gaze travels to the south, to the constellation - so uncharacteristically bright tonight - that still doesn’t feel like _his_. "Look, you can see it so clearly! The amateur astronomers must be very happy tonight."  
  
"Not as happy as I am," he smiles, and kisses his wife.  
  
Over them, Alpha Librae is twinkling like the playful light in the eyes of an old man. It feels almost like a benediction.

* * *

**IV. 24: Graduation**

"So this is where you trained." From the tiny peer where they just disembarked, Ikki takes in the grey rocks baking in the sun, the scraggly vegetation stubbornly clinging to life, the volcano lazily belching smoke. Truth be told, it looks only a slight improvement over Death Queen Island. "What was it like?"  
  
Shun adjusts the straps of his Pandora Box and begins to lead him down a path leading inland. "It was hard. You probably would have done very well, but for me… The training was harsh, of course, and I missed you terribly. But there were a lot of other trainees, so it wasn’t that different from the Foundation. And I had a good master. The hardest part was learning to _want_ to hit - but not too hard either. The others thought I didn’t go all out because I was too weak, so some of them thought they could push me around…" He chuckles. "I just didn’t want to hurt them. My cosmo was strong even then; I was worried about my control slipping. My master guessed the truth, of course. He told me he saw great potential in me and that was why I wasn’t on the boat back to Japan within the first month."  
  
Then it sounds like the man knew what he was doing at least. And he was killed for refusing to denounce Shun, for which he’d have Ikki’s gratitude even if he had been a terrible teacher. But by all accounts, Athena’s army lost a competent saint the day Saga had Cepheus assassinated. Pity.  
  
Shun must remember how the tale ends as well, because he falls silent and his shoulders slump guiltily. Ikki wishes he knew how to be comforting with words. Trying to think of what he’d like to hear if he was in his brother’s shoes doesn’t help; _his_ master wasn’t competent or supportive -ha!-, and the very thought of feeling sorry for his loss is ludicrous. He gives Shun’s shoulder a squeeze. That seems to be enough.  
  
The path leads them to a few scattered buildings. Ikki hangs back while Shun goes to talk the man in charge, who greets the representatives of the mighty Sanctuary with the utmost reverence. Ikki doesn’t bother listening to the conversation. Instead he scans the buildings. Those that aren’t of recent build had some major repairs done to them. There’s a dormitory, a refectory, what looks like a bathhouse… And in the middle of it all, there’s a small arena where some impossibly young lads have stopped their practice to stare open-mouthed at the two visitors - but especially at the Pandora Box one of them is carrying, which must seem like the holy grail to them.  
  
The polite smile on Shun’s face never falters even as he shakes his head no - no, they don’t need help, no, they don’t want to watch practice, no, they won’t be staying for dinner.  
  
He shakes the man eventually, and he leads Ikki down another dirt path to a small beach. He points out the two rocky pillars that emerge from the foam without comment. Ikki nods; he’s been told the story already.  
  
The settle down on the beach to wait for the low tide. Shun is silent at first, but soon he starts babbling about what he’s been up to, his clinical clerkship, his graduation exam, his mundane friends, Shiryu’s son… All things Ikki knows about already, he does check social media whenever he can, thankyouverymuch - but it’s nice to hear Shun’s voice for once, and to watch the animation on his brother’s face as he reclines against the Pandora Box, so Ikki grunts and nods at the appropriate intervals, and dutifully looks at the hundreds of pictures on Shun’s phone. Shiryu’s boy does grow like a weed.  
  
By the time he’s looked through everything, the tide has ebbed and the two pillars have fully emerged. Shun gets up reluctantly, and carries the Pandora Box to them. He moves with careful reverence as he winds a length of chain around the box and the pillars and ties it all together with his cosmo. When he is done, he kneels beside the box and starts whispering softly to it. He stays like that for a long time, his head resting against the cold metal box. Ikki is glad the island’s current master didn’t insist on making a production of this handover. The last thing Shun needs is a gaggle of trainees gawking at him as he says goodbye to the Andromeda Cloth. Even Ikki’s presence is almost too much.  
  
By the time the Shun gets up to leave, the tide has started to turn again, and the Virgo Saint’s pants are wet.

* * *

They don’t speak again until the boat is halfway back to the mainland.  
  
"Come back to Tokyo with me," Shun says. "At least until my graduation ceremony. It’s only in a week. Everyone’s been missing you."  
  
Shun so rarely demands anything of Ikki. He takes whatever his brother is able to give and never asks for more. This trip to Andromeda Island was the first time he really asked. How could Ikki deny him?  
  
And hell, it has been a long time. It would be nice to see the others. Ikki can stand the press of thirteen million fragile lives for a week. But he’s not going to let Shun know he won right away; he has a reputation to uphold.  
  
"And what will you tell your professors and your doctor friends when they ask who I am? ‘This is my thuggish good-for-nothing brother who unloads crates and mends nets for a living?’"  
  
"I will say, ‘this is my beloved older brother, without whom I never could have made it this far’. Which happens to be completely true."  
  
"Flattery," Ikki declares haughtily, "will get you everywhere."  
  
"Does that mean you’re coming?"  
  
Shun has worked damn hard for this diploma. He’s worked hard for everything in his life, but especially this. The snot-nosed trainees salivating over the Andromeda Cloth right now, Ikki thinks, would be astonished to learn that his brother is more proud of his medical degree than of his Gold Cloth gathering dust in the Sanctuary. Ikki would be a right asshole to be elsewhere when his brother gets the piece of paper that makes it official.  
  
"How could I miss it? ‘My brother the doctor.’ It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?"

* * *

**V. Now: Parenthood**

Hyoga wakes up to the sounds of someone else being in the room with him.  
  
Last night comes rushing back: the fight, the child, the Freezing Coffin… Natasha. The girl who is snoring on his couch is his daughter Natasha.  
  
Something akin to panic sets in. He has a daughter now. He hasn’t got the first clue what to do with a daughter.  
  
He doesn’t need to do anything right now: she sleeps peacefully, her breathing is even, her pulse is strong. But as soon as she wakes up, she’ll need food, and after that she’ll need clothes, and toys, and - and legal documents, and something to _do_ all day, and god, what is he going to do about his work schedule?  
  
Suddenly, incongruously, he desperately wants to fly out to Siberia and dive down to the sunken ship to talk to his mother. Ridiculous. He hasn’t done that in years. He swore he never would again. But he’s never felt more like a lost little boy than since the day the Japanese coastal guard picked up his lifeboat. All he really wants right now is for someone to hold him and tell him it will be all right.  
  
He barely has the time to send a few panicked e-mails before Natasha stirs, smiles at him, and loudly starts demanding breakfast.  
  
Hyoga checks his cupboards in the foolish hope that his boxes of cup ramen have transmuted themselves into real food overnight. No dice.  
  
"Ah, can you be a good girl and wait here while papa runs down to the combini to buy things?"  
  
He is gratified by the huge smile he receives. "Yep! Natasha is a good girl!"  
  
For a saint of Hyoga’s caliber, getting down to the corner store is really the work of seconds, and so is picking up everything he needs for breakfast. Without slowing down, he throws in two bento meals for lunch while he’s at it. And a toothbrush. And some crayons. He comes to a sudden stop in front of the emergency underwear and stares helplessly at the packages. He has no idea what Natasha’s size is or how old her body is. He eventually picks one at random and hopes it‘s not too small.  
  
Then, while he stands in line at the checkout, he has ample time to think about everything else he will need to buy eventually. Extra bedding. Clothes for all seasons. Shoes. School supplies? God, he didn’t budget for this. But how had he been supposed to know at the beginning of the month that he was going to become a _father_?  
  
Once everything is paid for, he is free to use his full speed again. The whole thing took less than three minutes, but he still feels some trepidation as he opens his door. What if she hurt herself? (What if, God forbid, whatever miracle reanimated her just stopped working while he was away? No, don’t even think about that.)  
  
It turns out he needn’t have worried. Natasha is perfectly fine and everything is as he left it.  
  
After he’s produced a breakfast his new daughter deems acceptable and sat her down with a box of crayons and a supply of paper, he leaves the dishes in the sink for later and runs full tilt to the hospital.

* * *

Hyoga manages to ambush Shun just before his shift. Ambush is the right word - he comes face to face with a cosmo-chain before chain and wielder recognize him as friendly, but he’s too agitated for the subtle approach.  
  
"Hyoga? I heard what happened last night. Is something wrong? Do you need help?"  
  
God, does he ever. It all comes spilling out in a rush. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s not ready, there’s a good reason why he hasn’t taken any apprentices, and a child, _a child_ is an even greater commitment, what if he can’t, he doesn’t know how to be a father, he doesn’t know how to be a _good_ father, and how _could_ he know how to be a good father when his most vivid memory of his _own_ is watching the man’s receding back as he left Hyoga at his fancy Foundation for child soldiers…  
  
"Stop right there. Listen to yourself, Hyoga. You would never deliberately hurt a child. And any harm you might - might! - accidentally do could never be as bad as what that man did deliberately. But you won’t screw up. You’re a good man. You already love her so much. Any small mistakes you make can be corrected. And don’t forget: you won’t be alone in this. Aren’t we your family? You know you can depend on us for anything you need."  
  
This is why Hyoga likes Shun: you can always count on him to put things in perspective. Hyoga already feels a little less like a terrified kid, and more like the man who’s stared down gods. "You’re right, as always. It’s just-" He manages to swallow the obvious ‘I’ve never done this before’. "I have to figure out how to enter her into the system, and I’ll have to find someone to watch her during the day - that’s when I usually sleep, you know."  
  
"I’m afraid my schedule doesn’t leave much room for babysitting, but we’ll figure something out. Just remember: one thing at a time."  
  
Hyoga doesn’t miss the _we_ in there, and goes home feeling much more confident.  
  
When it occurs to him to check his mail, he finds a long message full of practical advice from Shiryu, and an offer from Saori to have the Foundation’s best forgers build Natasha an identity, and which preschool would Hyoga like to enroll her in?  
  
Natasha proudly shows off her drawing of two vaguely people-shaped blobs holding hands ("That’s papa and Natasha!"). Hyoga makes a mental note to buy fridge magnets.  
  
For a while, everything is calm. Natasha sits at the window and watches the bustling street below, and Hyoga watches her, considering. After a while, his mind is made up. He takes out his rosary from under his clothes and looks at it for a long time. _Mama_ , he thinks, _I don’t know if you know this already, but I’m a father now. Please keep watching over us. I love you._  
  
"Natasha?"  
  
"Yes papa?" She immediately abandons the window and flashes him a big toothy smile Hyoga already knows he’ll never be able to resist.  
  
"I have something for you," he says as he carefully drapes the rosary over her neck. "It’s an old family heirloom."  
  
"Oooooooooooh," she sighs. "It’s so pretty!" She turns it this way and that and watches the gold and the rubies glisten in the sunlight.  
  
"It is, isn’t it?"  
  
"Thank you papa!" She launches herself into his arms unexpectedly. "Thank you thank you thank you!"  
  
"Take good care of it," Hyoga says, smiling. "It belonged to your grandmother."  
  
And when he hugs his daughter, it feels like the most natural thing in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> \- If canon suddenly gives us a ton of info about anyone's lives but especially Ikki's between the time I posted and the deadline, I'm sorry but c'est la vie :-)
> 
> \- Who are all these foes attacking Saori? Picture something along the lines of Tenkai-hen Overture or Omega's backstory here.
> 
> \- The line about Hyoga and cars is a nod to the infamous episode where he drives Ikki to the scene of battle for no discernible reason.
> 
> -The daiken is a qualification test you need in order to apply to the university entrance exams if you don't have a high school diploma. Shun hasn't even been near a school since he was about six, and I don't think at 13 he had the time or the motivation to catch up on the entire compulsory Japanese curriculum in time for high school entrance exams, so he had to cram later /headcanon
> 
> -Is Shiryu blind? My country's official translation of Assassin says no, not permanently - he just sometimes loses his sight when he's depleted his cosmo too much. Plus, we see him read a message on his phone, so...
> 
> -The shinto wedding vows are very nice! I lost the link but the translation's easy to google...
> 
> -Unless I screwed up majorly while playing with Stellarium, all the main 5's constellations minus Phoenix plus Libra are indeed visible at the same time from Japan at a reasonable hour of the evening in April, so spring wedding it is. This has the benefit of working well characterization-wise as well, because Shunrei's birthday happens to be in April, so you can assume that those two lovebirds started planning their wedding the minute she turned 20 (and thus legal, *handwave handwave Saori helped her get Japanese citizenship handwave*). And IRL, Libra's stars are very dim and the constellation lacks interesting features, but this is Saint Seiya where the stars can canonically look however they feel like.
> 
> -Daedalus? Albior? Shun's master is Schrödinger's Cepheus Saint, but at least the details are roughly the same in all versions.
> 
> -Yes, it's technically possible to graduate from medical school at 24. Unlikely, but possible.


End file.
